RWBY Holiday Special
by Pikatwig
Summary: The holiday season has arrived. Ruby and Weiss have invited many friends and family to join them at their home in Patch to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year. (Takes place after the final battle and then heroes are adults. Various pairings, most prominently White Rose. One-Shot). Merry Christmas everyone.


Pikatwig: Before we begin today's story, I would like to give a quick apology for me not having posted anything since July. School was a massive pain, but I'm finally getting something out. Just wanted to give that quick little apology. Now then, onto the story. *clears throat* So… RWBY stories can have a very grim atmosphere at times.

Ruby: True. *blinks* Wait...

Yang: Boo~!

Pikatwig: ...what?

KKD: 1. I'm with Yang about how dark the stories have been getting as of last. 2. ...was that an intentional pun with the whole "grim" angle?

Pikatwig: No.

KKD: Alright.

Pikatwig: Anyway, back on track. I've read some RWBY fics in my spare time and… well… while some do have premises that are a lot more relaxed in tone based on descriptions, they can take a dark turn. I'm not going to name any of the fics to avoid this seeming like an attack, but the overly dark events and bad things that happen to the RWBY girls can get… annoying. Don't get me wrong. Bad circumstances go along with the good circumstances. That's just how life works… but if it feels like bad circumstances just get piled on over and over again, it's just annoying.

KKD: Yea, exactly. I'm tired of any of these stories that keep giving our heroes a bad hand in life.

Pikatwig: While I do have another RWBY story in the works that'll have some bad things happen, there will also be good things that happen. I'll explain it a bit more in due time, but the idea is that the good and the bad will influence their lives going forward. ...does that make sense?

KKD: I think so.

Pikatwig: But… enough about tragedy and yada yada. It's the holiday season and we're going to be doing some happy and fluffy stories. One will be on my account, which you're reading right now, and the other will be on KKD's account.

KKD: Mine is going to take some more time to work on, but we're working on this one in time for the holiday.

Pikatwig: This plot will be taking place long after the heroes stop Salem and save Remnant. So… they will have settled down and have had families. You'll see who the families are in a little bit. Some will probably not surprise you based on the RWBY fics on my account, but others may just surprise you a little bit.

KKD: I'm personally looking forward to this one. Ready?

Pikatwig: Think we're good to start.

KKD: Disclaimers.

Disclaimers: Neither Pikatwig nor KKD own the rights to RWBY or any affiliated content. They belong to their respective owners including Rooster Teeth and the late Monty Oum. All they own are original characters and concepts within the story.

* * *

It was a calm, cool, and snowy morning in the town of Patch. The sun had just finished rising in the sky over the town as the focus shifted to a small house that was in the middle of what looked to be nowhere as there weren't many other houses around it. Within the home was a family of three, one of whom was a familiar black and red haired, silver-eyed woman who was currently fast asleep. She happily cuddled up against a familiar white haired woman currently in a white set of pajamas that had various cyan lines along it.

Soon enough, though, the door to their room quietly opened up and a young girl slipped in. This girl wore a one piece pink pajama suit as her white hair flowed with her movements, her red tips shimmering against the little bit of light that was coming in from outside of the room. She then snuck over to the bed of the two older women, gaining a small smirk, taking a good walk backwards while still being quiet before she suddenly burst over with a rapid burst of speed and jumped up on the bed.

"IT'S YUKIMAS! IT'S YUKIMAS! IT'S YUKIMAS! GET UP!" the young girl cheerfully shouted as she jumped on the bed.

The two women groaned a bit before yawning and exchanging looks at each-other.

"She's definitely your child…" the white haired woman mumbled to the black haired woman, who just giggled and kissed her cheek.

"I do recall doing this with my family when I was younger," the black haired woman giggled before they turned to the younger girl, who was still jumping on the bed. The young girl kept it up for a bit before she saw her task was accomplished and stopped. The black haired woman smiled before ruffling the younger girl's hair, "Mornin', Iris. I see you're up early."

"And I wanted to get you up early too, mommy," the young girl, Iris, said with a beaming smile, "Auntie Yang and Aunt Blake are gonna be here, and so are Soot and Yin, and-"

"Yes, we know. We made the invites, so we know who's going to be here," the white haired woman reminded.

"Sorry. I'm just so excited to see them," Iris beamed.

"We know the real reason you want them to be here already, you can't hide it from us," the black haired woman stated which made Iris go silent in response. The black haired woman only giggled in response, "Can you give us a few minutes to get ready? I'll be down in a minute and I'll find a holiday special for you to watch, ok?"

"Okay, mommy," Iris responded.

"And don't even think about touching those presents until the rest of the family shows up," the white haired woman reminded.

"I won't, mama," Iris said as she retreated out of the room.

The two older women exhaled a little. The one with white hair rubbed her eyes and slipped on a pair of glasses with light blue rims, and adjusted them before she turned her attention to the other woman, who had stood up and began to stretch.

"She is so your child…" the white haired woman remarked.

"So? I've also seen her be very strict with her when I need to be," the black haired woman stated.

"True…" the white haired woman remarked as she smiled at her, "It feels so strange knowing that we have a family. Still seems like only yesterday we were the top of our class and quickly ended up saving the Maidens and the entire world. And now…"

"We're retired huntresses with a family, Weiss. I think we deserve it more than anyone."

"You especially, Ruby…" the white haired woman, Weiss, commented.

"I'm more surprised you gave up the opportunity to work at the Dust Company to settle in little ol' Patch with me," the black haired woman, Ruby, responded. She then looked at Weiss with a smile and her eyes landed at an engagement ring Weiss had, "It still feels like a dream that you said yes to marrying me. My heart still flutters every time I think about it…"

Weiss simply smiled as she got up and walked over to Ruby, "Mine does, too. Though I think that losing the Dust Company was worth it to be with you. I wanted a much simpler life with you and I'd give up anything for that…"

Ruby blushed and giggled at her wife's comment before they had a quick kiss. The two embraced before splitting up when they then heard a bit of motion downstairs.

"...go deal with Iris while I freshen up a little," Weiss told Ruby.

"Right away, Weiss," Ruby responded before she sped off to keep their child in hand. Weiss only smiled at the trail of rose petals that was left in Ruby's place.

* * *

Ruby managed to get Iris to settle down before she got the TV on and found some holiday specials for her.

"I used to watch these when I was your age. They don't re-air as much as they should, but I guess they were feeling generous," Ruby told Iris.

"This one's nice. I never knew how many specials they've aired over the years," Iris admitted, "I love the one with the little puppy who takes the place of an injured reindeer."

"That's a classic," Ruby remarked.

The two giggled before Ruby tickled Iris for a bit and listened to her little girl laugh. Weiss eventually entered the living room, her hair done up in her usual sideways ponytail, yet she was still in her pajamas.

"Hi Weiss," Ruby smiled.

"Your turn to freshen up," Weiss remarked.

"But I don't wanna…" Iris whined.

"Not you. Ruby," Weiss elaborated.

"Yay!" Iris cheered.

"Aw~," Ruby pouted a bit before she headed for the upstairs bathroom to do so.

Iris then turned her attention towards the Yukimas tree with a small grin on her face. She then got off the couch and made a run towards it, but was quickly stopped by a glyph spawning in front of her.

"Nice try, my little flower petal," Weiss stated with a small smirk on her face, "But you will have to get cleaned and ready soon, too. You may be able to stay in your pajamas, but we still need to be presentable for the rest of the family."

"Present-able?" Iris joked.

Weiss then sighed and put her face into her palms, "...when was the last time you spoke with Yang again?"

Iris just giggled in response, her white-haired mother just smiling before picking her up and sitting down with her on the couch. Weiss kept a tight, yet comfortable grip on her little girl.

"Mama, did everybody agree to show up for the holidays?" Iris curiously asked.

"You'll see," was all Weiss said in response.

* * *

Ruby finished up in the bathroom and brushed her hair out of her face. She quietly hummed the melody of a holiday song as she slipped on a fresh set of pajamas that were identical to the ones discarded into a hamper. Her eyes eventually came to rest at her wedding ring as a wide smile came to her face, before she slipped it on, and she headed out.

* * *

Weiss and Iris continued to remain on the couch as more Yukimas specials were on the TV. Iris eventually looked around and her eyes settled on a picture of Team RWBY and an award the team had received for their job.

"What was it like being a Huntress?" Iris asked.

"It was pretty exciting," Ruby informed as she returned to the living room, "But we retired so we could have you. It's a much safer job, I'll admit, and I wouldn't trade being a mother for anything in the world."

Iris just smiled at her mother before she gained a small worried look, "Oh no…"

"That's right. Time for a bath," Ruby responded, picking her daughter up and carrying her to the bathroom.

"I'm going back to bed," Iris yelled as she tried to get out of Ruby's grip.

"Not this time, little snow star," Ruby declared as she managed to open the bathroom door, "If I have to get cleaned, so do you."

"I don't wanna get out of my pajamas~!"

"You have another set ready to go. You just need to be clean," Ruby reminded as she tried to keep her grip on Iris, "Now hold still so we can get it done."

"No~!"

Ruby let out an annoyed sigh when she got Iris into the bathroom, "I don't get it. You ordinarily love baths so much! Why are you resisting so hard now? It's not like it's any different than normal!"

"I don't wanna get out of my pajamas! I like staying in them all day!" Iris whined.

"Iris, if you want to be able to play with Soot and the others, you're going to need to clean up and get into something clean," Weiss stated as she entered the bathroom.

The two parents finally got their daughter into the bathtub with Ruby pouring the bubble bath soap in. Iris initially had a bit of a grumpy expression, but it eventually melted into a relaxed smile as she saw the bubbles floating around.

"There we go," Ruby smiled, "I think I got it from here, Weiss. You keep an eye on when the others show."

"Got it," Weiss responded as she headed out.

Iris giggled as she picked up some of the bubbles and cuddled them a little. The young girl smiled as her mother ended up splashing a little water in her face.

"Wasn't so hard to get in the bath, was it?" Ruby teasingly asked.

"No, not at all. In fact, it's really nice," Iris responded as she flicked a little water in Ruby's face.

"Good to hear," Ruby stated before she helped her little girl get clean. Ruby eventually finished, got Iris out of the tub, drained the water, and helped her dry off.

"Now let's get you dressed," Weiss said as she re-entered with a clean pair of pajamas for Iris.

"Yay!" Iris cheered as she grabbed the pajamas with a gleeful smile, "Jammies!"

"It's a special day since we'll all be in jammies for Yukimas. Now, hold still, ok?" Ruby requested of her little girl. She then helped her get dressed in a new pair of pink pajamas before Iris headed out of the bathroom with a smile.

"I'll go make sure she doesn't get at the presents," Weiss quickly informed, then tailing after Iris.

"...I can only imagine how my mom felt when I acted like that…" Ruby muttered as she looked at her reflection. She just stared at her reflection for a minute before she shook it off, giggling a little bit as she looked outside in the direction of Iris' room, "Well… let's see how long it takes for Iris to try and take a present early."

"Iris Aria Rose, you put that present down this instant!" Weiss shouted.

"But mama~, I wanna open one already~!" Iris whined.

"You can open one once the rest of the family shows up!"

"That'll take forever!"

Ruby only giggled a bit before she headed over to the living room to see a single present in Iris' hands in addition to the young girl being surrounded by glyphs to keep her from moving.

"Ruby, help me," Weiss requested, "She won't put it down."

"Mommy~! I wanna open one already~!" Iris pleaded.

"You're being a bad girl right now. You remember that the Aurora of Holidays can take back presents, right?" Ruby reminded with a stern look on her face.

Iris' face paled in response and she put the present down. Weiss then let the glyphs down, allowing Ruby the chance to sit next to her little daughter to talk.

"There you go. I know being patient isn't very fun, but we all gotta be able to wait a little. Ok?" Ruby told Iris comfortingly.

"I-I guess… but do you have any idea when the others are going to show?"

"Weiss?"

"They said it may be another hour given the amount of snow on the roads," Weiss informed.

"Until then… let's watch some specials, ok? I'll make you some cookie pancakes to eat while we wait," Ruby offered.

Iris then zipped over to the couch and smiled, kicking her feet as she watched some specials.

"Want me to get the pancake batter started?" Weiss asked.

"Go ahead. And make sure to have the spare on standby in case Ren and Nora show up early," Ruby advised.

* * *

Weiss looked a bit calm and collected as she was working on baking some pancake batter while Ruby was working on the cookie part of the recipe. They both occasionally glanced up at Iris to make sure she was behaving herself, but their focus was mainly on cooking their breakfast. Ruby eventually got the cookies into the fridge in order to let them cool off when she looked over some of the pictures they had along the wall of the fridge.

"So… after our wedding was Blake and Yang, right?" Ruby checked.

"Yeah. Then was Ren and Nora, then my sister got married, and then came the odd combo of Oscar with… Neon, was it?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah," Ruby nodded as she walked over to help Weiss, "Still a little glad she got his attention and ran with it so I didn't have to have any awkward attempts to let him down gently."

"That sure went on for a while and was a bit… odd."

"A farm boy and a skater. That sounds almost as odd as that one guy from Beacon getting together with a Faunus," Ruby stated.

"...who?"

"You know… the guy who bullied Velvet…" Ruby reminded.

"Oh yeah…" Weiss stated in recollection, "...what was his name again?"

"I don't remember," Ruby admitted with a shrug.

"Well, as long as he learned his lessons and isn't as bad to Faunus anymore… guess it doesn't matter," Weiss stated. She then turned her attention back to the batter as it was looking ready to be used, "...what even brought this up anyway?"

"Just looked at all the wedding pictures we have on the fridge," Ruby informed as she motioned to the pictures in question, "...why are those there again?"

Weiss gave an annoyed exhale as she turned to Ruby, "Because YOU wanted to buy the pictures in bulk so that we would have spares."

"...oh yeah," Ruby recalled which then lead to her giggling a bit nervously, Weiss just sighing and facepalming herself before resuming.

"How much longer~...?" Iris asked in a whining tone.

"For breakfast or for our guests to arrive?" Weiss checked.

"...both?"

"Breakfast will be another ten minutes. Not sure about the guests, though," Weiss told her daughter.

Iris sighed a bit, but just sat anxiously while watching the specials. She looked towards the presents for a moment, only to quickly look back to the TV to keep her focus there. Eventually, though, a knock came at the door.

"Think we're far enough along to be good to check the door?" Weiss asked Ruby.

"Hmm…" Ruby muttered as she looked over the pancakes they had stacked so far, "We should be good."

Weiss nodded, taking off an apron she had on, setting it on a chair before walking to the front door and opening it to see a black haired woman with cat ears on her head, a blonde hair woman with messy hair that was nearly as long as she was, and two young girls with them. One of them had black hair that had a similar ear effect though had blonde tips that reached her neck while her eyes were a brown color and she had a rather comfortable winter outfit, and the other had dusty blonde hair that was tied up in two pigtails with lavender eyes and also had a winter outfit on.

"Hey," the Faunus greeted.

"Happy holidays," the blonde added.

"Blake, Yang!" Ruby cheered as she dashed over and pounced at the blonde to give her a hug as Iris heard the impact.

"They're here!" Iris shouted before she joined her mothers at the door, "Soot, Yin, I'm happy you're here!"

"Hi Iris," the Faunus girl, Soot, greeted.

"What's up, cuz?" the dirty blonde, Yin, added.

"Are we the first ones here?" the Faunus woman, Blake, inquired.

"Indeed you are," Weiss informed, "Come on in. Breakfast will be ready soon. ...and if Nora shows up soon, breakfast may take a while longer…"

"Cookie pancakes, huh?" Yang asked.

"You know it," Ruby giggled as the four entered the house.

"Presents?" Yin asked.

"Not yet," Blake told her.

"I see. Well, as long as we get to hang out with Iris, it'll be fine for now, I can wait," Soot assured while Yin sighed.

"Good girl," Yang smiled, "Glad to see she's picked up on patience."

"Which she clearly didn't learn from you," Weiss remarked.

"Hey! I'll have you know that I have gotten more patient," Yang responded.

"...two weeks ago, you came here to have Ruby work on your arm because you had to wait in line for three hours to get it looked at by a professional," Blake reminded.

"Oh… these wounds from your words…" Yang melodramatically began as she pretended to stumble a bit, "You know that they… _blake _up my heart!"

Iris giggled at the joke while everybody else all sighed.

"Your puns never changed in quality, sis," Ruby stated.

"I think you're funny, Auntie Yang," Iris informed.

"At least one of you appreciates my puns."

* * *

While Ruby and Weiss got back to work on baking breakfast, Blake, Yang, Soot, and Yin all hung out with Iris and were regaling her with stories.

"And then… bam! Down the Grimm went! I didn't even take a single bit of Aura damage that entire battle!" Yang boastfully concluded.

"I seem to remember your Aura having broken ten minutes into the hour long fight and I had to carry you back to the rendezvous point," Blake reminded.

"Hey, that wasn't important to the grand scheme of things. Point is, the battle was awesome!" Yang stated with a smirk.

"And that happened before Soot and Yin were born, right?" Iris asked.

"I think Blake was carrying them when that battle happened…" Yang commented.

"That was before I began to carry them. A week or so before we made the choice to start a family," Blake informed.

"I honestly forgot that. My bad," Yang apologized.

"And we weren't told that the twins were born until Winter told us a few days later," Weiss informed from the kitchen.

"In our defense, we weren't close to any hospital when they were born," Yang stated.

"That is true," Blake added before sighing, "We seriously lucked out that a good samaritan found us and got us help…"

"What's that mean?" Iris asked.

"It means that despite being a stranger, someone came and helped Mom and Mother with something even without a promise of a reward," Soot explained.

"The only good thing about the circumstances when the two were born is that we finally came up with a name for Soot," Blake stated with a neutral expression.

"True that," Yang nodded with her own neutral expression, "Funny how the younger twin got the name we already planned out, isn't it?"

Blake nodded a little in response before Soot looked up to her, "What is it, sweetie?"

"What inspired my name in the first place?" Soot curiously asked.

"Well… you two know you were born while we were stuck in the middle of a forest. While we were walking around… I tripped on something and it sent mud all over the place. You two were, thankfully, unharmed… and you got covered in some dark mud that reminded us of the shade of soot. So… Soot Xiao Long," Blake explained.

"Huh. ...ok," Soot responded, "I do like my name. Just didn't know that's why you thought it up…"

"Were you two going to give her my name?" Yin asked.

"Had we thought of it while we were trying to get out of the forest? To be honest, I wasn't really thinking about that until we got help and were able to get Winter to get us to a hospital," Yang admitted, "The benefits of having somebody in good relations with a deep pocket book."

"You were fortunate that she was able to get the company's money because of my mother," was all Weiss said in response to Yang.

Blake's eyes landed on a wedding picture that was of Winter before she simply smiled, "We are fortunate that Winter is willing to help us if we need it."

"Please… no more comments about being rich… please…" Weiss weakly requested.

"Right, bad memories with your father…" Yang recalled, "Sorry. My memory isn't what it used to be."

Before anybody else could say anything, a rather loud series of knocks at the door came. Ruby zipped to the door and saw a familiar head of orange hair via the peephole. Ruby quickly turned her attention over to her wife, "Weiss, put the breakfast in the fridge and get out the supplies to make more…"

"Got it," Weiss nodded as she covered up the pancakes as best she could.

"We good?"

"Go ahead and let her in."

Ruby nodded as she opened up the door. The orange haired woman in pink smiled as she ran in.

"Hi everyone~!" she happily greeted.

"Auntie Nora! Uncle Rennie!" Iris cheered as she saw a male with black hair wearing a green outfit and he then guided in a girl about Soot's and Yin's age that had hair that was partially dyed pink with bits of orange and black towards the backside of her head.

"Sup, Rini?" Yin greeted.

"Doin' fine. Just happy to finally be off the plane…" the girl, Rini, told them.

"Sorry, Rini-dearie. Planes are just the fastest way to get from Kuroyuri. There's no need for you to be sick now…" the orange haired woman, Nora, said as she scooped her daughter into a hug.

"It didn't help that she could hardly stay still during the flight here…" Nora's husband stated.

"That's more then you said the last time we saw you, Ren," Yang greeted.

Ren just nodded as he walked over to a coffee pot that had already been made. He happily took a cup, poured some cream into it, and took a sip of the liquid.

"I have to ask… what happened to you two living in Argus? I remember you two were looking at housing around there," Nora inquired.

"Too many people were hounding us for our accomplishments. We just wanted to find some peace and quiet to raise Iris ourselves and Patch was the better option," Ruby informed.

Weiss simply nodded as she walked over to check on Rini, "You doing ok? I'm sorry that you had to go on a plane…"

"I'll be fine. I promise…" Rini assured.

"I did remember to pack her medicine just in case, though," Nora informed, "I'm a responsible mother."

"Shocking," a new voice remarked.

The group all looked to see a certain young man with blonde hair. He happily waved to the group as he was let in.

"Hi Jaune," Ruby greeted.

"Hey Ruby. Glad to see ya again," Jaune smiled as they hugged like friends before another knock came at the door, "Huh? Who's that?"

Ruby then opened up the door to reveal a certain young woman with pink and brown hair while holding a white umbrella and wearing a pink and brown jacket over a mostly white outfit.

"Neo! Good to see you," Ruby smiled as she hugged her.

Neo smiled as she hugged back before she turned her attention over to the kids. She walked over to them and took out a plate of cookies for them, all of them getting excited.

"Thank you, Neo," Rini smiled as she accepted the offer, Neo holding up a cute sign saying "You're Welcome" in response.

"How have you been?" Soot asked curiously, with Neo simply giving an expression that gave the answer she had been doing fine, "Good to hear. Thank you for the cookies."

Neo giggled a bit as she looked down at Iris with a smile. She then pulled the girl into a hug as Iris looked the most happy to see her.

"I still feel a little nervous seeing her around the kids…" Yang whispered to Blake, "I know she's turned over a new leaf and all, but… sometimes I just get nervous. You know what I mean?"

"Your worries are shared, don't worry about that, hun," Blake whispered back in an understanding tone.

"Hey, Neo, can you do that little trick you did last time?" Iris asked with a smile.

Neo nodded in response as she stood still for a moment, then motioned for Iris to come at her. Iris then ran towards her… only for the Neo in front of her to disappear and for her to appear above the group doing a hand-stand.

"You know… her Semblance is a little like Mother's…" Soot noticed, "It feels a little similar because they make copies of themselves…"

Blake and Neo then exchanged a look that indicated neither had thought about that. They blushed a little bit before they turned their attention away from each-other. Neo then stopped her hand-stand and took a bow for the group.

"Impressive," Weiss commented.

Neo then smiled towards Weiss and Ruby as the two walked over with a container in tow.

"Well… breakfast is ready," Weiss informed as she got the pancakes out.

"Yay~! PANCAKES~!" Nora cheered.

"I said Iris could have some earlier and then we decided to make the same for the rest of you since we already started," Ruby explained.

"How thoughtful," Blake smiled as Soot pulled up a chair for her younger cousin at the table.

"Thank you," Iris told her cousin.

* * *

Breakfast was soon finished and the kids were all staring at the still unopened presents under the tree. The four kids were looking with excitement as they wanted to get at them, but Iris and Soot were both trying to not think about the gifts.

"We need to wait… we need to be good kids and wait…" Soot told herself, yet she was clearly battling her temptation.

"I wanna open them so bad…" Iris muttered.

"Gotta… resist… don't want… Aurora to be mad…" Rini added.

"We should just open one already!" Yin yelled, "I'm so tired of waiting!"

"But if we do that, the gifts could go away…" Iris meekly reminded her older cousin.

"Wait… that's a thing?"

"Yes it is," Blake said as she entered the room, "Yin Xiao Long, you will wait. If you don't, then the Aurora will take your gifts away."

"Why did we need to come to Patch again? It's so much easier to wait for grandma and grandpa to show up," Yin asked. She then felt Blake staring at her with a disappointed look before she spoke again, "I mean… I do like to see little cuz here and all that… I was just wondering…"

"Yin. I told you that your grandparents will meet up with us later since they are busy. We wanted to have a big gathering this year because it's a special occasion," Blake told her daughter.

The young girl just sighed and leaned back into her seat. Blake then sat down with the four young girls to keep an eye on them.

"...why do we celebrate Yukimas again?" Iris innocently asked. "I like the holiday and all that, but why do we celebrate it?"

"Well… it just so happens I have a book about the story," Blake informed, "I can tell you, but you all need to promise to not cause any trouble. Got it?"

The kids all nodded in response as Blake pulled a book out of her bag and opened it up. She then smiled fondly as she opened it up, "Once upon a time… the four kingdoms of Remnant weren't exactly the best of friends. They argued and feuded for various reasons. However, towards the end of December, all across the sky appears this lovely glow. No matter what happened in the world, everybody stopped what they were doing and admired the glow. The glow would always be a reminder of friends, family, and an undying love that remains ever present."

"I saw the glow last night," Iris beamed.

"I saw it in the sky. Not as pretty as when on the ground…" Rini added.

"During the build up to the day of the glow, the four kingdoms set aside their differences in order to allow the weary people a chance to go home and celebrate. However, not all of the transportation would be able to get them back. Luckily, the city of Yukinia in Menagerie was willing to accept anybody who couldn't get back home. Yukinia is the one area in the entire island where it snows, hence the name as it derives from an ancient word meaning 'snow'," Blake continued.

"Wow. That sounds pretty…" Yin admitted.

"Yeah," Soot agreed.

"On the day of the glow, many people were there and came up with the name 'Aurora' to describe the glow. During that evening, as if by a magical miracle, people were able to find a way back home thanks to a woman with hair that glowed like the aurora and a deer faunus aid. Once they got back home, they were given gifts to celebrate being reunited with their families. The mysterious woman has never been found, but she and the aid are always there to guide you home if you're lost on the holidays. Thus, Yukimas is celebrated in honor of that aurora, in honor of family, and the love we all share. The end," Blake concluded as she closed the book.

The kids all cheered in response to the story before a knock came at the door.

"I'll get it," Weiss said as she headed over to the door. She took a look out of the peephole, but didn't see anybody there. She walked away from the door… only for another knock to happen. Once more, she didn't see anybody there. Weiss got a somewhat annoyed look as she slipped on some shoes and a jacket, "Let's see who's idea of a joke this is…"

"Oh, I wanna go outside too!" Iris beamed as she got her own jacket on.

"...I guess it wouldn't hurt…" Weiss muttered. She then opened up the door and the two walked outside to try and find out who it was that was knocking, "It's probably Qrow and his silly idea of a practical joke or something…"

A snowball then hit Weiss' chest. She and Iris could then hear a woman giggling in response before Weiss recognized the voice.

"Winter!" Weiss said with a beaming smile.

"Good to see you, too, Weiss," Winter smiled as she walked into their line of sight. She then noticed Iris standing nearby, "And if it isn't my favorite niece."

"Auntie Winter!" Iris beamed as she ran over to give her aunt a hug, the two smiling widely as they had their hug, "Where's Uncle?"

"Taking a minute to make sure the limo is safely parked. He can be a lot more worried about things than I can be, trust me," Winter told Iris. She then looked over to Weiss, "Sorry we took so long to get here. Air traffic was a mess and the traffic down here was even worse because of all the snow."

"It's alright. I'm just glad you're here," Weiss smiled. She then looked around a bit, "...anybody else from our end of the family here or…?"

"Mom sadly had a medical complication that prevented her from traveling via plane. Klein and Whitley are both keeping an eye on her. Whitley's wife was able to make it here, though. I have no clue where she is though…" Winter informed with a bit of a sad look before her expression turned a little more joyful, "And you know who is still sitting in jail where he belongs."

"After what happened with mom and Ruby… he deserves to stay in jail for the rest of his life…" Weiss said in an angered tone, "I'll never forgive him…"

"...who are you talking about?" Iris asked with a curious and innocent tone.

All of the anger that Weiss had on her expression evaporated almost instantly before turning to her daughter and giving her a calm expression, "I'll tell you when you're older. It's… really not something a child should be hearing."

"Alright…" Iris responded in a worried tone.

"Don't worry about it. For now, I think we should enjoy the holiday season," Winter stated as she put Iris down and handed her a snowball, "Go on. Go and throw it."

Iris then smiled a little as she looked to Winter before throwing it right at her elbow.

"Need to work on your aim. Other than that, good first attempt, just make sure you let go in the general direction where you're aiming. A-" Winter began to speak before she stopped herself, "...sorry. Force of habit. Military life will get you into habits that can be hard to break… me and my husband can attest to that.

"I know. I can't help much with that, but I do think you being able to relax will help," Weiss told her sister.

"And I can't thank you enough for encouraging me and my husband to get married. It was certainly a little strange to wrap my mind around since he was my general, but now… we can't help but be happy," Winter smiled.

"Hey, I finally got the limo parked," a male voice informed.

"Good to see you, Ironwood," Weiss greeted.

"You can call me James, you know."

"Right. Force of habit. Sorry," Weiss apologized.

"Uncle J!" Iris giggled, leaping to his arms as Ironwood looked a bit startled at her suddenly doing that, "I'm so happy to see you!"

"It's good to see you too, Iris," Ironwood smiled as he hugged her back

"It took you long enough, General," Winter remarked before she exhaled, "Er… I mean Ironwood. Er, I mean James."

"And I thought your sister took a long time to get used to it…" Ironwood remarked.

"Now then…" Winter began before she looked around, "Where's that bucket of petals I get to call my sister-in-law?"

"She's inside right now," Weiss informed.

"Alright. I think I'll go in and greet her," Winter smiled as she headed on inside.

"Hey, Weiss?" Ironwood spoke up.

"Yes?"

"I can't thank you enough for playing matchmaker for me and Winter. It was the perfect match once I started to think about it," Ironwood thanked before he handed Iris back to Weiss. He then followed Winter inside the house.

"...what's a matchmaker?" Iris inquired as her mom let her onto the ground.

Weiss couldn't help but giggle a little at her daughter's question before kneeling down to her level.

"I'll explain it when you're older, dear. For now, let's go inside," Weiss told her.

"Ok, mama," Iris nodded.

* * *

"It's nice to see my favorite sister-in-law again," Winter smiled as she kneeled to Ruby's eye level.

"Nice to see you two as well," Ruby responded before she tried to pull off a curtsey.

"Nicely well handled this time, Ruby. You improved since your first attempt. A+," Winter smiled, doing her own curtsey before she turned to Yang, "Ah. The sunny dragon. How are you today?"

"Been doing good, Winter. How's the military been? Your men doing all the work while you get all cozy with the general?" Yang responded before she smirked at the annoyed look on Winter's face, "Oh, sorry about that Ice Empress."

"I'm sorry… 'Ice Empress'? Been called the Ice Queen before, but… Ice Empress?"

"Weiss is our resident Ice Queen and I had to think of something different for you since you'd be higher up in the monarchy. So… yea, considering you're just as cold, you're the Ice Empress," Yang remarked.

"Perhaps I need to call you the volcanic dragon since your hair rises like lava and you can make people's temper rise…" Winter said in a very irritated tone.

"Seriously? That's the best you got?" Yang commented.

"Mommy, Mama, Auntie Yang and Auntie Winter are fighting again~!" Iris called out.

"WINTER/SIS! Play nice now!" Weiss and Ruby called out in unison before their older sisters sighed.

"It's not even worth it right now…" Winter exhaled.

"Sorry. Just… we're family and, sometimes, families argue. It happens all the time," Yang sighed before she gave Winter a smile, "I do like having you as a sister-in-law. Kind of fun to have somebody from such a different background."

Winter smiled for a moment before she spoke again, "You're a good woman, Yang. I appreciate you and then insight that you give at times."

The two older siblings both smiled before they walked away from each-other.

"How many more people are left?" Iris asked.

"Just a few more," Weiss informed before they heard what sounded like a tree falling, "And I think I know who's on his way now…"

"Uncle Qro~w!" Ruby gleefully exclaimed as she dashed outside.

* * *

Qrow looked at the fallen tree for a moment before Ruby dashed right over and hugged him, "Hey lil' flower. What's up?"

"I'm so happy to see you again!" Ruby beamed.

"Right back at ya," Qrow chuckled before an acorn fell right on top of his head, "...ow."

"Sorry we took so long, Rubes. We kind of had to not use a plane because of what happened the last time we traveled by plane," a female voice added.

Ruby looked around for a moment and didn't see the source of the voice. Qrow sighed and soon pointed up in the tree to show where the source of the voice was.

"Hi Elm, good to see you," Ruby greeted.

The dark skinned woman chuckled as she leaped down from the tree she was in. She smiled and giggled a bit at the cold feeling of the snow by her barefeet.

"I know how your Semblance works and all, but do you own any shoes at all?" Qrow couldn't help but ask.

"Not at all. It helps me with my martial arts and with my Semblance. Plus, the snow in Atlas was far colder than the snow down here, so I'm gonna be fine," Elm assured him.

"Weiss said she tried to walk around in the snow barefoot once and Winter stopped her," Ruby randomly remarked.

"Yea, I wasn't happy to hear about that. Hopefully we can let her try that at some point while I'm around," Elm said with a small smirk.

Ruby only gave a small giggle in response to Elm's comment before she ended up ducking out of the way of some snow falling from a nearby tree.

"...Ruby? Are you sure you want me at the party? You know I bring bad luck and I really don't want to put your kid in harm's way…" Qrow worriedly stated.

"Hey, you're still family, Uncle Qrow. It doesn't matter if you're a bad luck charm. Plus, Iris, Soot, and Yin all love to hang around with you. Actually, now that I think about it, I think it might be the first time they've seen you since you got married," Ruby realized, "They'd love to meet their new great-auntie, so come on!"

Qrow gave a soft sigh before he and Elm followed Ruby towards the house. Ruby then stopped them and gave a 'shh' motion to the two.

"Oh. We gonna surprise them with me being married to Qrow?" Elm figured.

"Yup," Ruby nodded.

Elm nodded as Ruby walked in first before she motioned for Qrow to follow in. He simply followed her in without complaint and waved a little.

"Look who showed up!" Ruby gleefully cheered as she motioned to Qrow.

"Uncle Qrow!" Yang shouted in joy.

"Great Uncle Q!" Iris smiled cheerfully.

"Oh… hello Qrow," Ironwood greeted.

"Hey. How's Ice Queen Senior doing?" Qrow asked.

"Don't call me that. It makes me sound old!" Winter yelled.

Qrow gave a light chuckle in response before he hugged Iris and patted her hair a little. Soot and Yin then approached and he couldn't help but ruffle Soot's hair and just give a smile towards Yin.

"I missed you, Great Uncle Q," Iris smiled.

"I missed you kids, too. Sorry I don't visit very often…" Qrow told them.

"And he has a surprise with him," Ruby informed.

"I am now going to duck and cover…" Winter said as she did so in the kitchen.

"...I am going to do the same," Ironwood concurred.

The door then opened to reveal Elm. She happily waved to the people inside as several looked confused, but Nora got a joyful smile on her face when she saw who it was.

"El~m!" Nora gleefully cheered.

"Hey Nora," Elm smiled.

"...Elm?" Weiss blinked in surprise.

"Hi Snow Princess. Glad to see you again," Elm greeted.

"It's nice to see one of the Ace-Ops again, but… why are you here?" Yang asked.

Elm then showed off her wedding rings that matched Qrow's, surprising most of the group.

"...no way…" Yang said as realization hit her.

"Seriously?" Blake gawked.

Weiss quickly tapped the shoulders of both Winter and Ironwood to get them to see what was in front of them. The two looked and went wide-eyed upon seeing the rings on Qrow and Elm.

"...did you seriously get married to Qrow?!" Ironwood gasped.

"I… I did not see this coming. ...at all…" Winter stated before she sat down and looked like she needed to process it.

"Does this mean we have a new auntie?" Iris asked.

"Yup. I'm your great aunt," Elm informed.

"Yay!" Iris cheered, "Great Auntie Elma!"

"It's Elm…"

"You look more like an Elma to me, Great Auntie," Iris giggled.

"Well… how many more people are left now?" Yin asked.

"Five or six," Ruby informed, "But right now, I wanna introduce the new part of our family to the wonderful kids. Elm, this is Iris Aria Rose. She's mine and Weiss' sweet little girl."

"I could tell she's your kid, Rubes. Same level of energy and such a similar hairstyle," Elm commented.

"Told you she was yours," Weiss giggled to Ruby.

"These are Soot and Yin Xiao Long. They're Blake's and Yang's twin daughters. Surprising, I know, but they're the little girls of my big sister," Ruby continued.

"Soot and Yin, huh? Nice names," Elm smiled.

"And finally-" Ruby was about to continue.

"Ren Rini. Mine and Renren's daughter!" Nora beamed.

"Hi…" Rini blushed and waved.

Elm simply smiled at Rini and Nora before Iris pulled on her pant leg, "Hmm?"

"Why is it you aren't wearing any shoes or socks?" Iris couldn't help but ask.

"Three reasons. First off, combat style. It helps if I get separated from my weapon and need to fight without it. Second off, my Semblance. It helps me keep planted to the ground as I endure hits. And third off, I just enjoy it. It's really fun to walk around outside without any footwear at all," Elm explained to Iris.

"Wow… cool," Iris said in response.

"I know, right?" Elm smiled.

Ruby then walked over to Weiss, who was spacing out, and then waved a hand in front of her face. Weiss then turned her attention over to Ruby with a somewhat surprised look on her face.

"...what?" Weiss asked.

Ruby gave off a sigh and lightly flicked Weiss on the forehead, "Keep your mind out of the gutter, Weiss. It's not going to happen today."

"Right. Thanks," Weiss quickly responded.

"For now, we just need to wait for the last few people to show up," Ruby reminded her.

Suddenly, a lightbulb in the kitchen began to go on the fritz. Qrow then took a few steps outside and the lightbulb began working again.

"Wow… Great Uncle can do magic tricks!" Iris beamed.

"Sorta…"

* * *

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were all waiting by the porch for the last of the guests to arrive. Ruby just watched the snow slowly fall down, Weiss was looking at the window by the porch, Blake was playing around with a strand of her short hair, and Yang was just watching something on her scroll.

"Ok… next year, we're sending out the invites a lot sooner…" Ruby stated.

"Duly noted," Weiss responded.

"...it is nice to be around each-other again," Blake commented, "It's been how many years since we stopped Salem?"

Ruby began to think a little before she turned towards Blake, "I think it's been nine years… not totally sure. Maybe more, but it's at least been nine."

"At least as long as we had the girls, right?" Yang added.

"Right," Weiss nodded.

"What are you looking at?" Ruby inquired.

"Elm telling the kids stories," Weiss informed as she could see that occurring via the window.

"She seems to be happy," Blake commented.

"And I know a certain Ice Queen is happy to see Elm because of something specific," Yang teased.

Weiss blushed and began to glare at Yang, "Shut up, Yang!"

"Seriously, Elm's just the best barefooter we know. Winter wouldn't let you do it and berated you for pretty much doing the same thing cause of how much you like feet. You're such a perv, Weiss," Yang continued to tease.

"Like you're one to talk! You're the biggest perv I know!" Weiss shouted.

"And she likes to show it off when she's filming, let me tell you," Blake commented.

"Hey! ...true. But, come on, with all of those books you have back home, you're a perv too," Yang retorted

Ruby began to laugh at her friends and family before she calmed down.

"...what?" Blake asked.

"It feels like we're a team of huntresses again. Just hanging out with a bit of ribbing at each-other," Ruby explained, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

"You're not wrong," Weiss responded as she gave Ruby a kiss to the forehead, "It also applies to how we feel about each other. You're still the lovable dolt I fell in love with all those years ago."

"I'll always be your dolt, Weiss. As you are my personal favorite woman and the world's most beautiful snowflake," Ruby giggled, the two kissing a bit.

The display of affection was interrupted by somebody doing a whistle in response. The four turned to see Illia and Harriet were both there, waving to the team.

"Hi Illia," Blake happily greeted.

"Hi Blake," Illia smiled, the two hugging closely before Illia snuck a kiss to Blake's cheek. She giggled a bit as she saw Blake get a bit flustered, "Sorry. Couldn't help myself."

"I noticed," Blake noted, Yang looking a bit jealous. Blake then walked over and gave Yang a kiss to the forehead. She then looked towards Illia, "Sorry that things didn't work out between us… I-"

"You apologize about that everytime we see each-other Blake. It's just that I can't help but feel a little bit of attraction to you. I have been seeing somebody else, but… well… sometimes it's a little hard to get rid of old feelings," Illia told her.

"Oh. Who are you seeing?" Blake asked.

"She's a sheep faunus named Fiona. I think you may have met her before," Illia informed.

"Hmm… I'm not sure if I remember her…" Yang commented.

"You mean Fiona Thyme?" Blake asked, earning a nod from Illia.

"Not sure if I recall that name…" Yang muttered loud enough for the others to hear.

"The Happy Huntresses. We only dealt with them a handful of times while you were in Atlas," Harriet reminded.

"Oh yeah!" Yang recalled.

"Well… it's nice to see my speed rival again," Ruby smiled as she walked over to Harriet, "Happy holidays."

"Right back atcha," Harriet smiled.

"Wanna have a race when the snow clears up?" Ruby offered.

"Sure. I don't mind," Harriet said with a confident smirk.

Ruby then opened up the door for their new arrivals, but before they could head inside, though, they heard somebody else approaching. It was a pair especially familiar to Blake given how much the duo seemed to look like her.

"Mom! Dad!" Blake smiled as she ran over to embrace them.

"It's good to see you again, Blake," Kali smiled.

"Always a joy to see you, Blake," Ghira added.

Yang then waved towards the two with a beaming smile, the two older Faunus smiling back as they looked towards her.

"You two are such a sweet couple," Kali said.

"Though, I gotta be honest, I was thinking that if you did end up with another girl… it would've been with Illia…" Ghira admitted.

"I understand the surprise… but I admit, I find something more charming in Yang," Blake admitted.

Illia could only exhale in response to this. Kali and Ghira then turned to see that Illia was there which made them both nervously laugh.

"Oh… Illia… I didn't know you were here already…" Kali quickly said, "How have you been lately with your sheep Faunus friend?"

"Alright…"

"Let's… go inside already," Ruby suggested.

They all nodded before going inside where Soot and Yin got giddy smiles upon seeing their grandparents.

"Grandma, grandpa!" Yin cheered as she ran over for a hug.

"Hello, Yin," Kali smiled, hugging Yin as Soot gave her grandparents a happy smile, "Hello, Soot."

"Hi," she smiled.

"How are my granddaughters doing?" Ghira asked happily as he kneeled down to their level.

"I'm a little tired of waiting around for the presents, but I am trying to be patient…" Yin explained in a very bored tone.

"You are so much like your mother…" Kali remarked.

"I have patience…" Blake stated.

"Not you, Blake," Kali corrected.

"I have to ask… how exactly do you identify which mother they're talking about?" Ghira couldn't help but inquire.

"They call us something different," Blake informed.

"Yea. They call me 'mom', and they call Blake 'mother'," Yang explained, "Makes it kind of easy to figure out if we have them use different words to refer to us as."

"Same thing applies with me and Weiss," Ruby added.

Iris simply nodded in response as she looked at Blake's parents with a calm smile.

"H-Hello," Iris waved.

"It's good to see you, Iris," Kali smiled. She then walked over and the two hugged it out, Iris giggling before she cuddled up with Kali, "I really love your hair color. It's just such a pretty shade."

"Thank you…"

"So… are we missing anyone?" Ruby checked with Weiss.

"Two more. I never heard back from your dad if he's going to be showing up, and I know one other guest should be here s-" Weiss continued before they heard something land in the backyard.

Everybody looked outside to see a certain girl with long orange hair in a green outfit approaching a bit slowly.

"I-Is that…?" Ruby whispered.

"Salutations~!" the orange haired girl waved with a warm smile.

"Auntie Penny!" Iris cheered as she ran over to the backyard door to let Penny in. Iris giggled with Penny as they entered the house together.

"...what do you think she sees in her husband?" Blake couldn't help but whisper to Yang.

"Your guess is about as good as mine…" Yang whispered back.

Penny then happily skipped over towards Ruby and pulled her into a hug. Ruby giggled as she accepted the hug with no resistance.

"It's great to see you again, Ruby," Penny smiled warmly.

"Right back at ya, Penny," Ruby told her.

"Sorry that my husband couldn't show up to the festivities. Sickness isn't fun," Penny explained.

"It's fine," Weiss assured her, "Health should be a priority, so as long as he gets better, then things will be fine."

Penny simply smiled as she turned towards Iris, Rini, Yin, and Soot. She then looked them over a little before giggling a bit.

"What?" Iris asked.

"Sorry. Just… I can imagine you four being a huntress team for some reason. You all seem to have the potential to me for some reason," Penny explained.

"I'm not gonna be thinking about that for a while," Iris admitted, "We're just trying to enjoy life here."

"I haven't really thought about what I want to do in the future since my parents have been working on rebuilding our home," Rini added.

"Huh. Well, I suppose being a huntress sounds cool…" Soot said with a bit of a shrug.

"Personally, I'm not that big into fighting, but we'll see what the future holds…" Yin added with disinterest in her tone.

"I can even imagine your team name being 'Team IRYS'. Kind of like how Ruby's team was Team RWBY," Penny stated.

"Ok, that's just a bit silly…" Iris told Penny.

There was a knock at the door followed by a yip of a dog.

"Dad's here!" Ruby cheered as she opened up the door, "Hi dad!"

"Sorry it took so long. Had to make sure the house was locked and I could find the way here," Taiyang explained.

"And I know you brought somebody else with you…" Ruby cheered as she grabbed the pet carrier and opened it up with a large grin on her face, "Zwei~!"

The little Corgi yipped, happy to see Ruby and the others, though it was clear he wasn't as energetic as he used to be. The corgi still looked happy in spite of that, wagging his little tail as Ruby cuddled him.

"Dog…" Blake fearfully muttered as she hid behind Yang.

"I'd say relax, Blake, but I suspect your parents might not be much better," Yang exhaled.

"Aw, he's so cute. Can I pet him?" Kali requested.

"Sure," Ruby smiled as she set Zwei on the ground, Kali giggling as she petted the aging canine, Blake still hiding behind Yang.

"I guess I have less to worry about than I thought," Yang shrugged.

"Puppy…" Soot nervously spoke. She hesitantly approached Zwei, but the dog looking towards her sent her running. Soot was then hiding behind her mother as the dog looked at her.

"C'mon, don't be scared, Soot. Zwei doesn't bite. He's a good boy," Yang encouraged her daughter.

Soot meekly looked towards the dog, but the little Faunus stayed behind her mother. Yang looked towards Blake and saw that she looked more scared than Soot did.

"And, Blake, I know that you like Zwei a little. I recall a time when we were hanging around the house and you let Zwei cuddle you," Yang reminded.

"Those were unauthorized snuggles!" Blake meekly retorted.

"Go on, Soot. He's a nice dog," Yang encouraged some more.

Soot then peeked towards the dog and nervously gave it a little whistle. Zwei then rolled around on the ground, panting happily before Soot gave a nervous smile towards the dog.

"Is everybody finally here?" Yin asked.

"Yes. Let's get the gifts out so we can all exchange presents!" Ruby cheered.

The four kids all cheered happily as they saw some of the adults get out some presents. Iris then quickly hugged everybody in the room before she took out a present, "Present time! Present time! Present ti~me!"

"...was I li-" Ruby began to ask.

"Yes," both Yang and Taiyang told her.

"Once more… she is your daughter," Weiss said.

"You acted that same way when you were that young, Weiss. I can't help but recall you got up early all the time and were the first one to the tree," Winter reminded.

"They don't need to know that," Weiss quickly responded.

"Let's just get in and open some presents!" Ruby and Iris cheered together.

"Like mother, like daughter," Yang giggled.

* * *

And so, the large group of friends and family sat by the fire with the tree in place, Ruby handing out the gifts.

"C'mon… please let this be good~" Yin pleaded as she tore open the gift from her grandparents, and she gasped upon seeing it was a beautifully woven kimono, "Wow~!"

"I made it myself. I figured you would want to try one on when we celebrate New Year's," Kali informed.

"It's so beautiful," Yin gawked.

"It's actually because of my mom that I decided to be a seamstress after I retired from being a huntress," Blake informed.

"And now you own one of the most popular boutiques in all of Remnant," Yang added.

"That is true," Blake smiled fondly.

"I… have a kimono too," Soot informed.

"Be sure to try them on next time we go visit your grandparents, girls," Blake told them.

"Got it/Okay," Yin and Soot responded.

Neo then walked over towards the twins and handed them a present before she walked back over into her seat. The twins shrugged a little in response before they opened up their presents and saw that they had matching scarves and matching hats.

"Wow, these are so CUTE!" Soot beamed.

"I like these, thank you," Yin thanked.

Neo simply gave a relaxed smile as she took a seat.

"Ok. This one is for… Iris," Ruby smiled as she took out the present, "It's not from me or Weiss. This is from… oh, it's actually from Penny and her husband."

Penny simply giggled a little as she motioned for Iris to open it up. The little girl excitedly opened the present to reveal a snow globe depicting the city of Mantle.

"I hope you enjoy it. It's a simple gift, I understand, but it gives you and idea of where I live and where I work," Penny smiled.

"It's so pretty…" Iris said in an amazed tone. She then set it aside and smiled a little at the snow. Weiss eventually picked it up and moved it to the top of the fireplace for safekeeping, "It looks so wonderful…"

"Thank you, Iris. I'm glad you like it," Penny smiled.

"Next up is for… Uncle Qrow," Ruby informed as she handed her uncle the gift, "I got it for you. I hope you enjoy it."

Qrow nodded, opening the gift to reveal what looked like a bracelet of some kind.

"It's supposed to be a good luck charm. Y'know, to kinda help ensure that you can be happy" Ruby explained, Qrow just smiling before he slipped it on.

"Thanks, kid. Think it'll be more useful now that I'm married," Qrow admitted.

"I still can't believe you got married and you only told Ruby and Weiss about it," Taiyang complained, "Seriously. You didn't even tell your own niece about it."

"I couldn't find Yang at all. I was gonna tell her, but in the end, I couldn't find her to let her know. Plus, the more people around, the more risk there would've been…" Qrow responded.

Taiyang just sighed in response.

"Anyway, now it's time for another present," Ruby smiled.

Jaune nodded his head and handed a gift to Neo. She gave a somewhat confused look towards him and he simply gave her a motion to open it. Neo shrugged and opened it up to reveal a recipe book.

"You make some good coffee, so maybe you could make a cafe," Jaune suggested, "That book has some ideas for good cafe foods."

Neo smiled and signed "thank you" to Jaune before she then handed a present to Yang. Yang looked over the gift nervously before she opened it up to reveal a fingerless glove.

"Um…?" Yang blinked before Neo pointed towards Yang's mechanical arm to indicate what hand it was supposed to go on. Yang then slipped it on and saw that it looked like the back end of Ember Celica, "Wow. This is a cool glove. Thanks, Neo."

Neo giggled in response. Ruby then took out another present and handed it to Rini.

"This is something specially made for you, Rini. I hope you enjoy it," Nora informed her daughter, "I just had Ruby make it."

"Alright," Rini nodded as she opened it to discover a set of dance ribbons, "Wow…"

"I know how much you love ballet, so I asked Ruby to make you some ballet ribbons. These should help you with your dancing," Nora explained

"Oh wowie! Thanks, aunt Ruby, thanks mom!" Rini smiled as she took out one of them. She looked it over for a bit before seeing the handle for the ribbon had an odd grip for a finger like it was a trigger

"Wait… does that ribbon have a trigger on it?" Weiss asked.

"It doesn't work. I tried to remove it without success, so I figured it could act as a kind of grip," Ruby explained.

"That actually sounds cool. Thank you," Rini thanked.

Weiss only sighed before Jaune handed Rini a gift.

"They told me about your ballet dreams, so… I got you something," Jaune informed.

Rini nodded and opened the gift to reveal a ballet dress, "Wow."

"Hope you like it. I had one of my sisters sew it. ...they did initially think I had gotten a girlfriend and had a daughter before I showed them a picture of you. ...then, for some reason, one of them thought I was your dad and I had to show her a picture of the three of you…" Jaune informed.

"Weird…" Ren commented.

"Well, you are cute, but… I have my Renren. ...if only Pyr was still here…" Nora told Jaune.

Jaune only sighed before Neo put a comforting hand on his shoulder. The two smiled and then took their seats.

"Next gift!" Ruby shouted.

"I suppose I'll hand out a gift," Weiss shrugged as she got out a small present and handed it to Neo, "For being a good friend ever since we saved the world."

Neo smiled as she opened it up to reveal some nail polish. The pinkette simply gave a knowing look to Weiss, then they ended up just smiling at each-other, Neo signing 'thank you' to Weiss, before Weiss took her seat.

"Now then… next one?" Ruby smiled.

"From me to my parents…" Blake informed.

Kali and Ghira smiled as Blake gave them their present. They opened it up to reveal a photo album with various pictures of the Belladonna family through the years. The two elder Faunus smiled as they flipped through it and couldn't help but gush when they saw pictures of Blake's wedding with Yang and a few birthday pictures of Soot and Yin.

"That's so sweet. Thanks Blake," Kali thanked before she and Ghira then hugged Blake.

"You're welcome," Blake responded before they let go of the hug.

"Alright… I got something for Blake's parents," Weiss informed, "Because, by proxy of marriage, they're sort of parents to me as well."

"Still not completely sure how I feel about the family tree now having Schnee in there…" Ghira admitted, earning a light slap from his wife, "I'm not trying to insult them. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it."

"I get it," Weiss assured them, "We tend to get that a lot with his reputation, but we're trying to fix all of it. That being said… here."

The present was a book entitled 'The True History of the Faunus'. Ghira opened it up to discover the book did not contain any stereotypes, discriminatory comments, or any of the slander that the Faunus tended to get sent their way. It was just pure, unadulterated history as much as possible. Ghira and Kali both teared up a little in response as they looked to the Schnee siblings.

"I was the one who wrote it," Winter informed, "It's about to come out a few days from today. Weiss wanted you two to have an early copy of it since you're family."

"...thank you," Ghira smiled as Kali gave Weiss a hug and then also gave one to Winter.

"You certainly are making up for the mistakes of the past, that's for sure," Illia said with a reassured smile on her face, "Nice to be friends with you, Schnee."

"...technically my last name is 'Rose' now…" Weiss reminded.

"Right, sorry."

"Happens a lot more than you think."

Illia simply nodded her head before she nervously handed a present over to Blake. Blake opened it up to reveal a ribbon much like the one she used to have while at Beacon Academy.

"...I just liked the ribbon is all. You don't have to wear it if you don't want to," Illia explained as she nervously twiddled her fingers.

Blake just smiled as she set the ribbon aside and gave Illia a hug. The chameleon Faunus then blushed a bright pink in response, making Blake lightly giggle a little bit. Blake let go of the hug and then resumed sitting next to Yang.

"And… uh… Yang? Here…" Illia said as she handed Yang a present, "I made it for you."

Yang nodded her head and saw it was a long sleeved top that had a dragon scale pattern along the arms.

"Huh. Cool," Yang smiled, "Thanks a lot."

"...take care of Blake. I'll make sure that if you don't…" Illia began to say, only for Yang to give her a motion to stop talking.

"I promise I will. You can count on it. Heck, I'd be willing to give up my other real limbs if it meant Blake would stay safe," Yang told her in a serious tone.

Illia simply smiled, "...all I want is for her to be happy. I can already tell she's in good hands."

Yang gave her own smile in response before she handed a present over to Penny, "Something for you to share with your dad. Never really thanked him properly for making my new arm."

"Oh," Penny nodded as she opened up the present to see it was a check for about 20,000 lien in Yang's name, "...Yang… this is…"

"Keep it. I owed you all for saving me anyway. Without it… then who knows where'd I be right now…" Yang told her.

"...thank you," Penny responded as she took her seat.

"And, Ironwood? Thanks for being the one to have it be made…" Yang quickly added, "I didn't know if you were going to show up, so…"

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad that I could be able to help you," Ironwood assured her.

"And I'd like to thank you. It's not much, but you did come through for Yang in more than one pinch…" Taiyang said as he handed Ironwood a present.

Ironwood gave it a curious look before he opened it up to reveal a sort of revolver chamber for a gun of some kind.

"Where do you think Ruby learned how to construct weapons?" Taiyang remarked, "Figured you could use something a bit more powerful as a just in case."

"Thanks…" Ironwood responded. Qrow then walked over and handed him something, "...what now?"

"Just open it, Jimmy," Qrow told him.

"I'm now very worried…" Winter muttered.

Ironwood then opened the gift up to reveal a framed picture that was of Winter while she was still in Atlas Academy alongside a team.

"...how did you get this?" Winter inquired.

"Trade secret," was all Qrow told her.

Winter was about to make another comment before she recalled who Qrow had married and it all clicked in her mind.

"I… didn't know you were teammates with some of the Ace-Ops…" Ironwood admitted.

"You were…?" Weiss gawked.

"...yes. I was on a team with Clover, Elm, and Robyn Hills…" Winter explained, "Our name was… Team CWER, or clover."

"...and I thought a team being named after their leaders was uncommon…" Ruby stated.

"Why do you look so embarrassed?" Ironwood asked.

"Because I wasn't team leader and that irritated me to no end back in those days. I realize my actions were childish and I want to bury some of my mistakes behind me," Winter told the others.

"Don't that sound familiar?" Yang smirked as she and Blake both turned towards Weiss.

"What?" Weiss blinked.

Winter only sighed in response as Ironwood looked at the picture with a chuckle.

"And don't forget we tied with Team STRQ at the Vytal Tournament," Elm added.

"And that explains where your rivalry with Qrow comes from…" Weiss realized.

"Don't remind me…" Winter stated coldly.

"Why… don't we go onto the next present?" Ruby suggested.

"Good idea," Weiss nodded as she handed a present to Ironwood, "Here you are."

The older gentleman simply smiled as he unwrapped the gift to reveal what looked to be a photo album. However, when he opened it, there were no pictures on the inside.

"So you and Winter can make new memories together," Weiss informed before she took her seat.

"You're really sweet, Weiss. I greatly appreciate all that you've done," Ironwood smiled.

"Now then… since Weiss didn't seem to know about your team… I think I can fix that," Elm informed as she handed Weiss something.

"Alright…?" Weiss blinked as she opened it to reveal a book with the text 'Team CWER Accomplishments', "...what is this?"

"After teams graduate, they usually get books that mark their accomplishments. I kind of over purchased some in order to make sure the memories remained. So I figured, why not go ahead and give you one," Elm informed, Weiss smiling as she opened up the book and flipped through it, "I was your sister's partner."

"And a rather major dolt at that job…" Winter muttered.

"Guess that word runs in the family," Ruby giggled.

The others just smiled and Weiss couldn't help but snicker a little in response, "So, in a way, Elm was your Ruby?"

"In a sense…" Winter stated, "For now, let's just keep the gifts going…"

"Right," Ruby nodded, "Who wants to go next?"

Rini then took a step forward and handed a present to Jaune, "Here you go."

"Thank you," Jaune smiled as he opened it up to reveal a rather simple book, "Um…? Can I get some elaboration or…?"

"It was something I could afford on my own," Rini said simply, "I wanted to show my parents I could try shopping by myself. I hope you like it."

"Oh. Thank you," Jaune told her as opened the book to reveal there was nothing in it. Just blank pages, "So… should I write in this myself?"

"You could," Rini told him.

Jaune simply nodded his head in response before he walked over to Iris and presented her with something. Iris simply looked over the bag a little before she pulled out some paper to reveal a stuffed horse.

"Wow!" Iris gawked.

"I figured you would like it. It seemed to be your color too," Jaune remarked as Iris cuddled the pink and white horse, "Reminds me of my sisters when they got those."

"Thank you, Uncle Jaunie," Iris thanked with a smile on her face.

Jaune then walked over to Weiss to hand her a present, "...have I ever apologized about how I acted towards you back in Beacon?"

"Not enough," Weiss remarked. She let that sink in for a moment before she snickered a bit, "Couldn't help it. Yeah, you have apologized enough."

"Good to know," Jaune stated simply before he handed her a present, "Just something simple."

Weiss opened it up to reveal a bracelet with gems that were the colors of the rainbow. She looked stunned by this as she slipped it on, "Wow. How did you afford this?"

"My sisters helped get the gems and Terra was the one who assembled it. I helped her out. Those aren't any precious jewels or dust crystals. ...had difficulty affording the flight here, but I did make sure that it would look nice," Jaune informed.

"Wow. This is… I… I don't know what to say. Thank you, Jaune," Weiss said with a heavy amount of sincerity in her tone.

"And before anybody says anything, think about the colors for a moment. Then think about a certain flag all of them are used on and you'll get why it has the main colors of the rainbow," Jaune quickly added before he took his seat.

The others just smiled as Blake walked up with a gift for Taiyang, "I know that our first meeting was a little… how should I put it… bumpy given what happened after Beacon…"

"That's putting it mildly," Yang remarked.

"Ignoring. I'm glad that you let me marry Yang and be a part of your family. Had to track down an old friend of mine to have this made. So… here," Blake said as she handed Taiyang the present.

"Alright…" Taiyang muttered as he opened it up. He eventually saw that it was a simple painting with himself, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Zwei in it, "Wow…"

"We all pitched in for this one, Dad. Zwei even helped a little," Yang informed.

"And that explains why Ruby was so insistent on borrowing him a while back…" Taiyang realized.

"That, and Iris really wanted to see him again," Ruby stated.

"I missed Zwei. He's a good doggy," Iris giggled.

Taiyang just smiled a bit before he looked at Blake, "You're right in that our first meeting was bumpy, but I wouldn't trade you being a part of my family for anything in the world. Yang sure knew how to pick somebody good."

"Glad I got somethin' right," Yang stated simply.

Blake then took her seat as Yang got out something.

"Hey, dad, here," Yang said as she tossed it over.

Taiyang looked surprised before he managed to catch it.

"It's nothing that can break, I promise," Yang quickly informed.

He then opened it up to reveal a piece of paper about a gym membership.

"I know you've been wanting to check it out for a while, so I went there and signed you up. Guess you could say I… beat you to the punch!" Yang joked.

While most everyone else groaned, Taiyang chuckled a little. Iris couldn't help but giggle a little at her joke as well.

"I still remember this time we had to drain water out of an area in order to keep moving and the pun Yang said…" Blake stated.

"Don't remind us…" Ruby and Weiss stated bluntly.

The others just sighed a bit before the exchange of gifts continued. After a few more hours, the members of Team RWBY finally exchanged gifts with each other.

"Alright. First is my gift for Yang," Ruby informed.

Yang gave a nod before tearing it open to reveal a brand new jacket with the emblems of all her teammates and a large golden 'Y' on the back.

"Thanks, Sis. Your turn," Yang beamed.

Ruby nodded her head and opened up the gift, which was a book about all kinds of different weapons. Ruby gawked in amazement as she flipped it open and began to read through it. She squealed out of joy upon seeing all the different types, two new weapons catching her eyes which included a set of tonfas with blades in one end, and a switch axe that had an ax mode, a sword mode, and a scythe mode, on top of both weapons having a gun mode.

"Guess we know what she's going to be focusing on after the New Year…" Blake commented.

"Clearly. She's wanted to find something to get Iris into weapons and I think she may have found something…" Weiss said with a bit of concern in her tone. She took a moment to calm herself before motioning to Blake, "Your turn."

Blake opened up her gift next and saw it was a book about sewing. She had a bit of a relaxed look before opening it and reading it.

"Weiss. This is so sweet. Thank you," Blake smiled as she flipped through it.

"No problem," Weiss told her.

"Your turn," Blake told her.

Weiss nodded as she unwrapped the gift to reveal a new pair of glasses.

"Had another Faunus friend make them. Those have special lenses in them that allow you to use night vision and have a special zoom in," Blake informed.

"Nice," Weiss smiled, "Thank you very much."

"If you don't mind my asking, Ruby, how'd you adjust to her needing glasses? I still think it's a little strange…" Yang couldn't help but ask.

"They're cute. I got used to them quickly," Ruby admitted.

"Honestly, I'm surprised it took so many years for you to have any eye issues given… y'know…" Winter bluntly stated as she motioned to the eye that Weiss had a scar by.

"Eh. Honestly, it never bothered me during my Huntress days. It only really started to get poor after I retired from the job. Not totally sure why, but it is what it is," Weiss stated.

"Next gift," Ruby said.

Weiss was set to hand a gift over to Ruby, but...

"If I may interrupt… I still haven't given you your gift, yet," Winter informed her sister, "Or Iris'..."

"...you okay with her going next?" Weiss asked Ruby.

"Go right ahead," Ruby nodded.

Winter smiled as she walked over and handed Weiss and Ruby their gifts before doing the same with Iris. All three opened them to reveal brand new Scrolls that were a wonderful shade of white and the back end had what looked to be a mixture of Weiss' symbol and Ruby's symbol.

"Had them custom made for you three. It took a bit to have the symbol made, but I feel like it's a perfect representation of the three of you," Winter informed.

"Thank you so much, Winter," Ruby told her.

"I… might need a manual for this…" Iris admitted with a nervous expression, "I've never had a real scroll before…"

Weiss and Winter couldn't help but giggle a bit as Ruby helped Iris navigate her way on the scroll a little before Winter took her spot back.

"Then… how have you contacted us to pick you up…?" Blake inquired.

"I had a kid's scroll," Iris informed.

"Buying the house and a standard scroll together weren't an option. We had to settle for one that had less features. We liked to call it the "kid's scroll" so that she wouldn't feel bad," Weiss whispered to Blake and Yang.

"And I still have a toy one," Iris cheerfully admitted.

Yin began to snicker at her younger cousin, but was quickly stopped by a quick cheek pinching from Rini.

"Let's move on. I believe it's now time for us married couples to exchange presents," Ruby stated, "But… let's let the Bumblebees go first. Save us White Roses for later."

"...okay, I know how you got 'bumblebee', but where did you get the latter from?" Blake asked.

"Scrapped name for our combo move," Weiss informed.

"Yea. I was dead set for the more elemental-focused names back then, but Weiss had thought up that one. Sometimes I just use it to talk about the two of us," Ruby explained.

Blake nodded her head before she handed a gift over to Yang. The blonde opened it to find what looked to be a pair of keys. Blake then took her outside to reveal Yang's old motorcycle, now repaired, and decked out with some upgrades complete with new helmets hanging off of the handlebars. The others soon looked outside and looked on in amazement.

"You will not BELIEVE how much money I had to get in order to convince people to help me look for it, get it out of the ocean, and then repair it. The upgrades were extra just so you could use it in combat without wreck it again. Just in case," Blake explained before she walked over and pushed out a sidecar, "And because I have a very distinct feeling you'll be driving the kids on this thing at least once… sidecar."

Yang took a moment to rub away some tears from her eyes before she ran over and pulled Blake into a deep kiss. The two smiled before they split apart.

"Thanks, Blake," Yang beamed.

"No problem," Blake smiled.

"...being totally honest, I was expecting you to eventually add a flamethrower or something to your van if you didn't get a new motorcycle," Weiss admitted.

"Don't give her any ideas! She already never slows down for speed bumps and I don't want her doing anything else reckless on the road!" Blake nearly shouted.

Yang snickered a bit before she gave Blake her gift and Blake saw that it was the deed to a new building, "So you can finally start your franchising. I know you always wanted to do it at some point."

Blake then hugged her wife with a relaxed smile before the group headed back inside.

"Okay… here you go, Weiss…" Ruby told her, "It took me a while to find this and I really hope you like it. It took a lot of money… and fighting back a lot of tears…"

Weiss gave a confused look to her wife, but shrugged her shoulders in response. She then opened it up to reveal a white cloak with a light blue underside to it.

"...that looks a lot like… oh… now I get why she said tears…" Yang realized.

"...looks like the one mom wore. Just… replace light blue with red…" Ruby said in a very quiet voice, clearly trying to not start crying.

"Oh… oh wow…" Weiss said, nearly too stunned to say anything.

"I'm… sorry. I just… wish she got to meet you… and Blake… and our other friends… and Iris…" Ruby spoke, clearly trying to not cry, "I wanted to make you something that would let us match a bit… but… I see it and… I… I… I…"

Weiss simply pulled Ruby into a hug to try to calm her down. Weiss whispered some comforting words, and Ruby just let out a much needed sob, crying tears into Weiss' shoulder before being further comforted by her dad, Yang, Blake, and most importantly for her… Iris.

"I'm sorry…" Ruby apologized.

"It's ok, Ruby. We fully understand…" Weiss assured her. She then took the cloak and put it on, "It's really pretty. But… if it upsets you…"

"No, no. It doesn't. It's just that… I'm sorry. I just… I don't know…" Ruby tried to speak before Weiss gave her a kiss on the cheek, "...thanks."

Weiss slipped the cloak off and set it aside. She then handed Ruby a present, which she quickly opened. Inside the box was something she never expected, but it made her tear up with tears of joy, seeing the gift was a red and white locket with etchings of hearts, roses, and a vine that curved around the rim.

"Open it up," Weiss told her.

Ruby quickly did so, gasping upon seeing the inside, on the left showing a picture of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang when they started as Team RWBY, the right showing the image of Ruby and Weiss as they got home from the hospital with a baby Iris in Weiss' arms. Ruby then turned to her wife with a smile and hugged her tenderly.

"I love you…" Ruby told her.

"I love you, too," Weiss smiled back before they kissed. It was a happy and tender moment between the couple. They eventually stopped and had a fond smile at each-other, "I never thought I would find true happiness. Let alone with another girl."

"This is a very sweet moment with you. I'll treasure it…" Ruby whispered.

"I'm truly, truly, honored to be Weiss Rose," Weiss smiled, kissing her forehead.

The others smiled in response, Iris leaping up to join their little hug. The two simply hugged their little girl and kissed her on the forehead, everyone smiling wider as Ruby and Weiss cuddled their young girl.

"Merry Yukimas, mommy," Iris smiled.

"Merry Yukimas, Iris," Ruby told her. She then looked over to the tree and smiled, "Right… there's still your present from us, Yin and Soot's present from their parents, Rini's gift from her folks, and all of our presents from the Aurora."

"Right," Yin nodded, "And I think the oldest should go first."

"...you do realize that means Rini gets to go first, and that I was born before you, right?" Soot reminded.

"Yes, yes I do," Yin stated.

Rini then simply shrugged her shoulders and took out her present. She fumbled around with the wrapping paper for a bit before she got it open to reveal a golden dragon hair-pin, "Wow…"

"You mother and I made this pin for you. I hope that it brings you good luck," Ren told his daughter.

"It has a bit from each of us on it, too. The dragon is a symbol of Ren's homeland and the gold is to represent the electricity that I can control. Like Ren said, it's supposed to bring you good luck," Nora informed.

"Thank you very much," Rini smiled before she hugged her mom and dad.

"That's sweet," Blake smiled as Yang pulled out Soot and Yin's gifts, "Okay you two. I know you've been waiting for a while, so here you are. We took a while to get to them, I know, but the wait should be worth it."

"Happy holidays," Yang added.

Soot and Yin smiled, the former carefully removing the bow before the wrapping paper, compared to Yin who just shredded through the wrappings to get to the contents.

"You can no doubt tell who took after who…" Blake commented.

"True dat," Yang stated.

Yin opened her present and smiled upon seeing an electric guitar that was black and yellow with a yin-yang symbol on the back of it. She had an awestruck look on her face as she strummed it a little. Meanwhile, Soot's gift was revealed to be a book about music that covered a long history.

"Mom… I don't know what to say…" Yin gawked.

"You two enjoy going to karaoke nights so much, we figured that if you wanna pursue music… then we should let you," Blake explained.

"...Thank you, mom. Thank you, mother," Soot told them with tears dripping down her eyes, "Can we hug you?"

The two nodded as the four hugged each-other with happy smiles. Finally, there was the Rose family.

"Um… I made you two something…" Iris informed as she took out something clumsily wrapped, "I just wanted it to be the last gift you got before Aurora's."

Ruby and Weiss nodded as Iris gave it to them. They opened it up to reveal a little snowflake ornament that was made out of popsicle sticks, glue, some paint, and a lot of glitter. The two mothers smiled before hugging their daughter before Ruby handed Iris their gift to her.

"It's really special. I hope you love it," Ruby told her.

Iris nodded her head before opening it up, revealing a cloak like that of her parents, being a nice bright shade of pink, making the little girl smile as she hugged it.

"It may be a little too big right now, but you'll grow into it for sure," Ruby assured.

"Do you like it?" Weiss asked.

"...Like it? I love it. Thanks mommy, thanks mama," Iris smiled before she hugged them both.

The trio and everyone around them smiled before Ruby and Iris exchanged a look at the tree and then each-other.

"Now then… our gifts from the Aurora," Ruby smiled.

And so, Ruby handed out each of the last presents to every person around and they all opened them up.

* * *

Iris let out a happy cheer as she rode down her new sled that she had gotten from the Aurora. As she did, Soot and Yin were in the midst of playing around in the snow, while the rest of Team RWBY watched them.

"She's so happy…" Ruby smiled.

"Yeah…" Weiss nodded before she turned over to Ruby, "Have you thought about having a second child?"

"I don't know yet…" Ruby admitted.

"Just curious is all. I did have a name for a second child in place just in case we had twins like Blake and Yang," Weiss informed, "Came up with Krystal. How does that sound?"

"...I think that's a lovely name. But let's hold off on talking about another kid for right now, alright?" Ruby asked.

"Alright," Weiss told her.

"...still feels so hard to believe… everything we've been through, and now we're parents," Blake admitted.

"Well, now our life is just so simple and so clean," Yang responded.

"I recognize that from a video game, but I can't place it…" Blake told her.

Yang only snickered a bit in response before she saw Winter walking by. The blonde gained a little smirk on her face before she flung a snowball at Winter.

"Oh… har-de-har, Xiao Long…" Winter growled before she picked up some snow, "Let's see how you like it."

"What did Yang do now…?" Jaune sighed as he looked over.

"Snowball fight," Nora beamed.

The girls all quickly rushed in and hid away from the barrage of snow that was now being exchanged between Winter and Yang. Nora eventually joined up with Yang, Ironwood then stood by Winter to help her, and it all eventually devolved into a massive battle with everybody but Ruby, Weiss, and the four children.

"...do you want to join them?" Weiss inquired.

"Part of me wants to, but part of me also wants to go in and make sure the girls are okay," Ruby told her.

"...I see what you mean. Plus, we need to start working on dinner…" Weiss stated.

"Right."

"But… um… what did Penny say about Iris and the girls? They'd be like… Team RYSI or something?" Weiss asked.

"IRYS, she said," Ruby reminded.

"...do you want her to follow in our footsteps or…?" Weiss began to ask.

"Honestly, that's her call. I won't pressure her to do it if she doesn't want to," Ruby explained, "But we can worry about her future when it comes. For now, dinner prep."

Thus, the two simply headed back inside as the snowball battle continued outside.

* * *

Evening had eventually arrived, and with it, came dinner. Ruby and Weiss and put the final touches to the meal and had all the seats out. Everybody had eventually come in, the snowball battle now over, and eventually took their seats. The four girls even had a small table just for the four of them, but it was still nearby for their parents.

"Thank you all for being here. This has been one of the best years we've had to celebrate Yukimas, and I'm glad we had such a big turnout," Ruby smiled. She then stood up with a cup of soda in her hands, "I declare this toast to thank the Aurora for the presents, all of us for being healthy, for the love and friendship we've all shared and developed over the years, to the happiness we all helped brought Remnant, and to the bright future."

"To the future," Weiss concurred as she raised up a glass of water.

"To the future!" the rest agreed with their glasses raised before they each had the toast.

Thus, the group had their dinner. Everybody was happy to have it and chatted about the future while eating various meals that had been prepared. Ruby looked over towards the girls as they had their part of the turkey that she and Weiss had made. She couldn't help but giggle a little as she saw Iris trying to mimic the toasting with her cup of chocolate milk. Ruby gave a fond smile to them and then to everyone around the tables.

* * *

Eventually, a bit more time had passed and the food had nearly been finished. Ruby got up and walked off to bring something over, "So… I have one last little surprise…"

"Ruby…" Weiss smiled.

"We're all a really big family. Even if we're not all related by blood… we built a family with each-other. And what better to map a family…" Ruby smiled before showing what she brought over, "Than a family tree?"

Said family tree was a very large poster that had the bloodline of the Rose, Xiao Long, Belladonna, and Schnee families… in addition with indications for the honorary parts of the family. The very bottom had Iris, Soot, Yin, and Rini to mark the current conclusion of the tree. Ruby gave a proud smile before Weiss walked over to give her a kiss.

"You never cease to amaze me, Ruby," Weiss smiled.

"Same here," Blake added.

"That's my sis for ya," Yang stated.

Ruby giggled a bit before Iris walked over to hug her, Ruby happily hugging her as the rest of the group looked on in amazement at the poster.

* * *

It was finally night time and everybody had gone to bed either in guest rooms or in the spacious basement. Ruby and Weiss were still a little awake as they sat together in their bed, Iris fast asleep nearby with her cloak as a blanket.

"Wanna take her back to her room?" Weiss asked.

"Sure. It's been a long day, so I think her sleeping in her bed would be a good idea," Ruby nodded as she gently walked over to pick up her little girl. Iris began to stir a little, but Ruby humming managed to keep her from waking up. The two parents then got Iris back into her room and underneath her blankets.

"I wouldn't trade this for anything…" Ruby whispered.

"Neither would I. Neither would I…" Weiss whispered back.

"Goodnight, little snow star," Ruby and Weiss bid together.

"...goodnight… mommy… mama… love you..." Iris said in her sleep.

"We love you too," they whispered before they closed the door.

The two parents eventually reached their room again and plopped down in bed. Weiss took off her glasses and laid down for the evening. Even with her vision blurred, Ruby was still clearly in front of her.

"I love you…" Ruby whispered to her.

"I love you too…" Weiss whispered as well.

"Sleep well, my favorite snowflake…" Ruby told her.

"Sleep well yourself, my little flower…" Weiss told her in a hushed voice.

Both had nearly finally fallen asleep before she exchange one last kiss for the evening, a single little mistletoe sitting above them, and then they smiled.

"Goodnight, Weiss…"

"Goodnight, Ruby…"

The two finally fell to sleep, cuddling each other as they slept, the white snow outside continuing to fall and some even falling onto some roses to make them appear like white roses...

* * *

Pikatwig: We managed to get this finished on Christmas Eve. Nice.

KKD: Perfect timing, too. This was a very nice little story to work on, that's for sure.

Pikatwig: "Little" you say. Ah well. I'm just glad we got to do something really sweet and happy for once.

Weiss: It was nice to take a break for the season.

Ruby: Yeah. I agree. And it was nice to hang out with the family. Wish Iris was part of the actual show.

Pikatwig: And now… for the name origins. Yin's root is pretty apparent, Rini's name was something of a random pick, I think I got Soot from another story… and then there's Iris. The name not only fits the color naming idea… but is also the name of Lindsey Jones' first daughter. I remember seeing the name one day and I thought that it would be a really nice name for a child.

KKD: Wow. Nice touch.

Blake: That's sweet.

Yang: Yeah, really is.

KKD: With that said, I'm happy we got this story done. If I had to say a favorite part… when they were opening presents. It was nice to come up with those ideas and seeing their reactions.

PIkatwig: I really like when Weiss gave Ruby her gift, when Iris got her cloak, and the ending exchange between the Rose family. Just… really sweet.

KKD: Yea, I really liked that, too.

Pikatwig: Also, KKD has posted an image of an older Iris and Soot to his DA account, so be sure to give that a look and you might get some ideas for what inspired elements for this.

KKD: As of now, it's still a work in progress, but I encourage you to keep watch so you can see the progress of that.

Pikatwig: Also… do let us know if you want to see more stories with these kids. I had fun writing them, but I'd like to know what you all think.

KKD: Same here. And with that, that is one of the last projects we have here for 2019, we hope to be able to accomplish more in 2020 unless we have a New Year's story on the rise. But for now, please enjoy your holidays, folks.

Pikatwig: Thus… Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone.

KKD: Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to one and all.

Pikatwig: Just Live More.

KKD: Jaa ne.


End file.
